CFPB's New Office of Innovation

CFPB’s New Office of Innovation

On July 18, 2018, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) Acting Director Mick Mulvaney announced that Paul Watkins, who previously led the FinTech initiatives in the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, will head the CFPB’s newly created Office of Innovation. According to a CFPB press release about the selection, the Office of Innovation will replace the CFPB’s Project Catalyst initiative (which the CFPB launched in 2012) and will “focus on creating policies to facilitate innovation, engaging with entrepreneurs and regulators, and reviewing outdated or unnecessary regulations.” Project Catalyst and the Office of Innovation share the stated overarching objective of promoting “consumer-friendly innovation” in consumer financial services. Read more in this blog post.

Commonwealth’s De-Risking Meeting in London - IMTC

[…] Judie also mentioned that there were many in attendance that blamed the United States for the wave in de-risking in the world due to the Department of Justice’s enforcement actions that have been aimed at large banks. Banks were also being blamed as they imposed a “one size fits all” approach. The fact that US Banks are forcing correspondent banks in developing countries to close the bank accounts of local MSBs is also fueling the blame aimed at US institutions. Read more here. […]